The coloring of hair regardless of the reason is a process that must be applied correctly. In most cases, this means that the hair color is sharp and full from the first day of coloring. In addition, the consumer needs the hair color to last, at an absolute minimum of two weeks (i.e., colorfast). Thus, a dye must be colorfast to the everyday environmental exposure of hair, most notably shampooing, styling and sunlight. Colorfastness of a dye can vary widely. Therefore, dyes used in the coloring of hair are categorized as permanent, demi-permanent and semi-permanent. One of the most well known, and widely used coloring applications is the oxidative dyeing process. In this process, the dye is placed on the hair, and allowed to penetrate the hair and become oxidized, most typically with hydrogen peroxide to produce the desired color in the hair. The dye composition is comprised of two main components: primary and coupler. Both components are low molecular weight, which enables them to penetrate the hair and be polymerized in the presence of a base and hydrogen peroxide, to form a final, larger molecular weight dye. The chemical polymerization process in the presence of the base and the peroxide is a coupling or a condensation reaction. The base is an alkaline material that can be, for example, ammonium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, and calcium hydroxide. It is well established that use of these materials can to some extent be damaging to the hair.
In addition to dyes which provide permanent hair color, there are non-oxidative colorants which intentionally provide hair color that is more temporary. The fastness properties of these dyes are determined by ionic linkages, hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces. These dyes are mostly used in the textile industry, where application procedures normally include the use of harsh chemicals and high temperatures. When used as hair dyes, however, the application of these dyes must be applied at much lower temperatures, and generally more mild conditions. Because of these compromises in application procedures, only a temporary coloring effect will be produced. Therefore, the color is expected to last only for several shampooing cycles. These types of dyes can be used either by themselves, or in conjunction with oxidative dyes to enhance vibrancy. To achieve good durability and/or permanent effect of hair coloring, harsh chemicals and conditions are necessary.
Thus, there is a need to produce a hair color application that provides vibrant and healthy long-lasting color with minimal use of a harsh environment. It has now surprisingly been discovered that cluster-modified water is capable of increasing the depth, intensity and durability of hair color, without the use of harsh chemicals. Cluster-modified water is anomalous to the specific chemical structure of commonly known regular water in that it contains three atoms, including two hydrogen and one oxygen, in a symmetrical triangular shape. However, while the chemical structure may be simple, the water molecule as a whole is very complicated. Due to its chemical structure, water molecules exhibit partially positive and negative sites forming a dipole moment. These sites are the hydrogen atoms which form the positive sites, and the oxygen atom which forms the negative site (due to the two lone pairs of electrons associated with oxygen). As a result of the dipole moment formed by the positive and negative sites, the water molecule is capable of a phenomenon known as hydrogen bonding. Thus, water molecules have a tendency towards forming hydrogen bonds between each other and this causes the water molecules to aggregate in various sizes. Depending on the treatment applied to water different types of cluster-modified waters can be produced. Examples of treated water, whereby ionic clusters contained within water are manipulated, are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,139,855 and 5,711,950 describing I and S structured water.
The use of cluster-modified water in the process of coloring hair has been surprisingly found to give color-treated hair a higher intensity of color than with the same given amount of colorant on hair color-treated without cluster-modified water. In addition, the resulting color is more durable, and has a conditioned feel and lustrous look. These benefits are achieved with any type of cluster-modified water including electrically activated, magnetically clustered and any other structured water as a treatment in conjunction with any kind of hair color procedure. Previously, it has only been known to achieve these benefits with the use of harsh chemicals typically used in hair coloring and other industries such as oxidizers, reducing agents, alkalinic and acidic ingredients, aromatic carriers and elevated temperatures and pressures. Clustered-water application can provide the same improvements to the final color, without the additional use of the above-listed materials and/or environments.